A review of the state-of-the-art of wireless SHM systems and an experimental set-up towards an improved design

Structural Safety of buildings is a major issue. The ability to monitor the behavior of the buildings which are subject to seismic acceleration or anthropogenic activity may reveal whether there is or has been created a structural problem in each construction. Public buildings, especially schools are even more of critical importance not only because each day they are visited by hundreds of children and students but also because these buildings are more stressed under the high number of people who use them. This work reviews the state of the art and the challenges of the Wireless Structural Health Monitoring systems (WiSHMs), and compares the key points of nowadays wireless and wired SHM systems. Furthermore it introduces an experimental conventional wired system and its performance at two neighboring buildings of different age, and a draft comparison of the structural behavior of both buildings in response to seismic activity, weather conditions and man-made activity is presented. In this context implements a wired SHM system in a 30 years old building and a 6 years old building (Educational Institute).